There are real records and then there are “other” records in very odd categories. This one is obviously all about getting more attention and nothing to do with speed, which is what we think about when a car hits an extreme race track.

According to Toyota all these feats have always been about miles per hour, not miles per gallon.

So Toyota turned tradition on its head as they obviously don’t have a car in their line-up to go after Porsche’s record time of 6:57.

The idea with Prius plug-in hybrid driven by Joe Clifford with a fully charged battery, fitted with low rolling resistance tyres was not to see how fast the car could lap the Nürburgring, but just how little fuel it could use on a single lap.

The so called record around the 12.9 mile course is according to Toyota 20 minutes and 59 seconds, returning an average fuel economy of 698mpg as it used very little fuel. The car was driven by Joe Clifford during a public session, with plenty of other cars and rules like staying above the minimum average speed limit of 37.2mph. Well it still is one boring “record”!

Tesla please take the Model S to the Nordschleife and show how it is done with purely electric power.